Haiti truck crashes leaving 17 dead

16/08/2015

Haiti (Reuters)

A road accident has left 17 dead and 18 injured in Haiti as a truck crammed with passengers and other goods crashed while trying to avoid a vehicle, an official says.

"A truck carrying about 30 people, planks of wood and coal overturned, apparently trying to avoid a motorcycle that had three passengers," said Jean-Henry Petit, the civil protection department's technical coordinator for the Nord department.

The truck was en route on Saturday morning from Saint-Raphael, a town some 40km from Cap-Haitien, and had almost reached its destination when the accident occurred, Petit said.

"No one who was in the truck or on the bike was spared in the accident," Petit added.

Civil protection officers, firefighters and Haitian Red Cross teams helped with the rescue effort at the crash site, about six kilometres from downtown Cap-Haitien.

One woman died midday from her injuries, while 16 others, including one of the passengers on the motorcycle, died at the scene.

The victims' bodies were being kept at a public hospital before being returned to their families.

The 18 injured were transferred to medical centres in Cap-Haitien. Of these, 13 people are in serious condition, Petit said.